Honda Says It Is Time To Offer The Consumer Less Options

Click Honda's online configurator for the Civic and you will enter a rabbit hole of options. For the sedan alone, there are LX, Sport, EX, EX-L and Touring trims, as well as the sporty Si.

That plethora of choices may be great for consumers, but not so much for the automaker. Honda Motor Co. CEO Takahiro Hachigo said last week that complicated vehicle configurations are sapping the company's resources from both development and manufacturing.

Hachigo now says it is time to simplify.

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MDarringer - 5/13/2019 8:21:03 AM

+2 Boost

All manufacturers could do dealers a world of favor by reducing options. They need to have base, mid, and high-level that each have finite equipment lists.

Any dealer will tell you about customers who come in wanting the a blue TerraKiller S with the automatic whirlygig but your blue one doesn't have that, but the red and purple ones on the lot do. You have a blue TerraKiller S+ with the automatic whirlygig, but that comes with electronic thingamabob control that they don't want.

Don't even talk about pickups and ridiculous option variation.

malba2367 - 5/13/2019 8:57:28 AM

+3 Boost

Honda actually has one of the simplest lineups as you can’t order individual options.

dlin - 5/13/2019 11:39:26 AM

+2 Boost

3 minimum

Vette71 - 5/13/2019 11:45:37 AM

+2 Boost

The article could be titled "Honda Goes Back to the 70s". Back then there was the famous study that pointed out there were 32 possible configurations of the Honda Accord versus 1 million possible configurations of a Ford Thunderbird that could be ordered. Hence Honda's lower price and increased reliability. Elegant simplicity.

PUGPROUD - 5/13/2019 11:57:15 AM

+1 Boost

One size fits all with reliability and low price is how the Japanese developed its foothold in the US originally. This will work for value shoppers but is bucking the trend toward personalization which is growing across all market segments.